Planetary Formation and Dynamics Simulations

The Planetary Formation and Dynamics Group at Miami University is actively involved in
attempting to solve a wide array of problems dealing with the formation and evolution
of our Solar System and other system of planets.

The origin of planets is thought to be a by-product of star formation where a
cool diffuse interstellar cloud of gas and dust gravitationally collapses to form
a star. Planets and other bodies then form by accretion in a centrifugally supported
disk of gas and dust.

More for purposes of discussion and problem formation, the process of planet formation
is divided into three general stages:

The Early or Gas Stage: Here, dust particles combine to form kilometer-sized planetesimals
in approximately 100 to 10,000 years (this is probably the least well understood phase).

The Middle or Runaway Stage: In this stage, the gravity between the planetesimals dominates,
and the planetesimals grow by accretion planetary embryos of roughly 1000 kilometer-size in a time ranging from
100,000 to 1,000,000 years.

The Late Stage: Here, the planetary embryos perturb each other into crossing orbits and combine
by large impacts until the remaining bodies are graviationally isolated. This stage can last several
100 million years.

At Miami, we have developed computer simulations to solve problems associated with
the formation of planets. For the details, see the student abstracts below.